Super Bowl Report

January 26, 1990|Compiled by WARNER HESSLER

NEW ORLEANS — DENVER PLAYERS UPSET BY ATTITUDE BACK HOME

Tom Jackson, a four-time Pro Bowl linebacker for the Denver Broncos who is now a football analyst on ESPN, said his former teammates are beginning to be affected by the defeatist attitude that has infected Denver the last two weeks.

"The guys were all excited when they won the AFC championship, and they've tried to ignore the negative vibes back home," said Jackson, "but I sense it's starting to get to them.

"Players say they don't read the papers, but you don't have to read papers to know what's going on. There's always some player saying things like `Did you hear how quiet things are back home?', and `I hear they have a welcome home parade for us, but only if we win.'"The guys are fighting it, saying it doesn't matter, but I sense they are beginning to get irritated. It's going to be interesting seeing how that makes them play Sunday."

NO WHERE TO TURN

Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson believes the 49ers' history of success in the Super Bowl will have a greater psychological impact on the game than the defeatist attitude coming out of Denver. "The young guys who are in this game need some old guys to turn to to help them through this week," said Simpson. "San Francisco has won two Super Bowls in the last three years and the young 49ers have a lot of guys to turn to who have been successful. Denver's lost two Super Bowls in the last three years, and the younger Broncos may not get much help from the olders guys who have lost twice and may be lacking confidence. It's a tough situation for Denver's young players."

WHO'S NEXT?

Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw said the 49ers' Joe Montana is the latest greatest quarterback of all time. "He's the greatest now, and Sunday he will get his fourth Super Bowl ring to prove it," said Bradshaw. "It's the rings that separate the good quarterbacks from the great ones. But there'll be another Montana. There always is. If Tampa Bay wins a Super Bowl, we'll start talking about (quarterback) Vinny Testaverde being the greatest of all time."

CASS DISAGREES

Cass Montana says her former husband, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe, "destroyed my life. Because he's shy, people don't believe there's a dark side" to the quarterback, she said. "People believe the squeaky clean, all-American image. "Joe is not squeaky clean." Appearing on the television program "A Current Affair," she said Montana withdrew money from their bank account in 1983, telling her he was going to buy her an expensive anniversary gift. "The next morning, he left and drove away, and that was it," she said. "He was gone. And the money he took paid his living expenses. "I was totally devastated. I was drowning. I was nuts."

MAY STEAL SHOW

There's a suspicion that Al Davis, owner of the Los Angeles Raiders, may do something to upstage the NFL's biggest event when he arrives in town later today. He upstaged Super Bowl XIV when he announced his intention to move the Raiders from Oakland several days before the game. He could take advantage of having approximately 2,500 members of the media in one town to announce that he has decided to take the Raiders back to Oakland. Sacramento is apparently out of the picture and Los Angeles' hopes of keeping the team appear to be fading. The feeling among a lot of West Coast writers is that Davis has already struck a deal with Oakland officials and is waiting for the right time, and place, to announce it. There's no better time or place than Super Bowl week in New Orleans.